EPIGENETIC POETRY - CIPM MARSEILLE

The project Giovanni Fontana. Epigenetic Poetry, born from the collaboration between Fondazione Bonotto, CIPM Centre International de Poésie  Marseille and Alphabetville, with the initial support of Julien Blaine, is part of Parallèles du Sud program of Manifesta 13 Marseille, and presents a series of new works, of large format, developed specifically by the artist for this event.
A project, curated by Patrizio Peterlini, which organizes the space into a large sound and visual installation which, thanks to the use of new technologies, tends to expand the concept of intermedia that supports it.
Great importance will be given to the multimedia aspect, through video and audio stations with the
possibility of seeing and listening to a series of contents in relation to the works on show.
Giovanni Fontana is one of the major protagonists of Sound Poetry at an international level and his works, which assemble electronic devices for the projection of video and the diffusion of audio, make concrete the multi-dimensionality of the artist's works which, in addition to their value on the visual plane, they have a textual relief and they also act as real scores.
Giovanni Fontana, in his Testo come organo vivente, defines this unity in these terms: “The poem is organized in the sound space. What is in nuce in the score is realized in material vibrations that involve all our senses. Perception is not only auditory, it is also optical and haptic. But the poetic text, like a living organism, retains its identity in the sphere of transformations. And it is regenerated from within with an autopoietic process, prompted by the voice and substantially redefined by the network of relations with the space-time environment. The level of  organization of the interacting elements is decisive for the quality of the work, understood as a real system to be read in an intermedia key, in the sense that each of the interacting elements makes no sense if considered in itself. Everything is a function of the whole. In the dynamics of transformations (from the static nature of the page to the space-time dimension of the intermedia poem) the autopoietic process guarantees identity in diversity."
Thanks to the collaboration of CIPM and Alphabetville, two important institutions for the production and diffusion of contemporary Marseille poetry, and its inclusion in the context of Manifesta 13 Marseille, the project aims to connect the historical scene of original sound poetry with the contemporary one.
The project is supported by the Italian Council 7th Edition 2019) program to promote Italian contemporary art in the world by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativituy of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism.
Alphabetville, a production and dissemination center specializing in new digital languages, will support and disseminate the project through its channels and its collaboration with Radio Grenouille.
During the first opening days, from 11 to 13 September 2020, Giovanni Fontana will perform live in the exhibition space. Access will be limited and by reservation.
"The performance involves organizing and harmonizing the sound flow inherent in the textual structure through the use of the voice (main instrument, generator of significance). In action, the voice supports the text, but it can also temporarily abandon it, to dissolve it in space, to break it down into clots of phonemes, into fragments of the body, into flying particulas, into temporal germs, into pure vibrations capable of coagulating around a concept, to an idea, to a poetic gesture, to a sort of glorious body, which becomes the body of poetry. All this without ever losing sight of the project, without ever losing control of the performing situation, which is essentially a rewriting in terms of space and time, sound and more, which deals with the meters, the bars, the durations, the breaks, breaks." (Giovanni Fontana, La Voce) Other parallel events such as workshops and live performances are being structured and will be communicated later.
For the occasion, a trilingual catalog (FR, EN and IT) will be published with texts by: Michaël Batalla, Julien Blaine, Giovanni Fontana, Barbara Meazzi, Patrizio Peterlini, Marianne Simon-Oikawa, Gilles Suzanne and Colette Tron. 

FONDAZIONE BONOTTO was established in order to promote the LUIGI BONOTTO COLLECTION which has collected, since the early Seventies to the present, numerous testimonies: works, audio documents, videos, posters, books, magazines and editions of Fluxus artists and International verbal-visual research developed from the late Fifties.
FONDAZIONE BONOTTO aims to promote and develop a new way of relating between art, business and contemporary culture at international level. These are the three main pillars around which the life, activity and success of Luigi Bonotto, the Founation’s creator and sponsor, has developed.
The Foundation’s main objectives are:
- to spread Fluxus action and Concrete, Visual & Sound Poetry through exhibitions, loans, partnerships with museums, foundations, archives, fairs and events in the sector to discuss the objects and the history of the Collection;
- to promote activities as well as intellectual and contemporary art work, commissioning artist installations and programs for curators;
- to curate the publication of magazines, books, on- and off-line material, artist catalogues, printings and special editions;
- to organise exhibitions, seminars and conferences with young artists and curators, who, from time to time, join in the dialogue with the material in the Collection;
- to organise workshops on the Collection’s theme relating to the world of art, business and fashion. To organise Fluxus concerts and Concrete, Visual & Sound Poetry readings, showings of independent art cinema, and indoor and outdoor cycles of films made by young filmmakers;
- to support research relating to the history and criticism of contemporary art with a master of contemporary art and artistic techniques, partnerships with universities, residency programs for young artists and curators who can keep the entrepreneur/artist relationship alive, the type of relationship that has characterized the connection between Luigi Bonotto and the Fluxus artists and Concrete, Visual & Sound Poetry; 
- to develop the relationship between artisan craftsmanship and industrial production and the art system, each fed by the same creativity, each central in the life of Luigi Bonotto.
BONOTTO FOUNDATION has digitized the entire Luigi Bonotto collection: works, editions, documents, audio, video, etc. Making it freely available on its website: Over 16,000 documents cataloged for more than 60 hours of browsing with around 2,500 audio and video files.
President : Luuigi Bonotto
Director : Patrizio Peterlini
www.fondazionebonotto.org

A reference institution for the creation and diffusion of contemporary poetry, the Centre International de Poésie was founded in Marseille in 1990 and will celebrate its thirtieth year in 2020. Its mission stems from a simple observation, the indisputable proof of which is however regularly questioned: poetry exists, is alive and pertinent, lively and creative, today as in the past; here in France as elsewhere in the world. Poetry is contemporary. From the page to the scene, it articulates the present of worlds and beings with that of languages, constantly reinventing the forms of the poem. Giving access to the multiple aspects of this contemporary poetry is what Cipm does by welcoming, throughout the year, authors and artworks that, regardless of their public notoriety, are at the center of this practice, essential for artistic and intellectual life.
The forms of the meetings offered range from simple reading to performance, from discussion to the round table, for example, on the work of a publisher or magazine; without forgetting the temporary exhibitions that highlight the work of an author or a particular theme. The Centre's programming is completed by the activity of its specialized library, which is open to the public free of charge and provides the public with nearly 50,000 documents. In parallel, a training program for poetic creation is given to high schools, arts academies and universities.
CIPM is an association governed by the law no. 1901. The president is Jean Daive, the vice president, Danielle Mémoire, the treasurer, Jean-Charles Depaule and the secretary, Jean-Pierre Boyer. Michaël Batalla is the director since 2019, a position in which he succeeded Emmanuel Ponsart, director since the foundation of the Center by the city of Marseille in 1990 on the initiative of Julien Blaine. The Cipm offices, the exhibition hall and the library are located in the center of the Vielle Charité, a historic monument from the 17th century.
CIPM benefits from the support of the city of Marseille, the Région Sud, the Centre National du Livre, the Ministry of Culture (DRAC - Provence-Alpes Côte d'Azur), SOFIA and the Jan Michalski Foundation for writing and literature.
www.cipmarseille.fr 

Alphabetville, laboratoire des écritures multimedia.
Alphabetville's activities are mainly developed around research, creation and diffusion themes related to languages, scripts and media.
Particular attention is given to the specificity of a writing based on the medium used. The notions of language and writing are discussed in relation to these specificities.
New media and digital technologies are in particular the melting pot of these issues and experiments.
A special place is given to forms of artistic expression and the notion of author is supported in all disciplines and collaborations envisaged.
The multimedia opening of this approach allows collaboration with artists, theorists and cultural operators from different disciplines.
The proposed objects and events find their inscription in a variety of media and presentation forms: books, public readings, theater, radio, multimedia, conferences, projections, thematic programs, retrospectives ...
But also, since 2013, and thanks to the initial support of Marseille Provence, the European capital of culture, Alphabetville has developed a residence program for authors, researchers, artists, critics, creating publications.
In addition, the memory of events can be consulted on the Alphabetville website in the form of multimedia resources (articles, online conferences, videos, links to documentation, programs, bibliographies, etc.): www.alphabetville.org
Through creative activities and the organization of meetings and thematic programs, Alphabetville develops and articulates links between art and culture practices and theories, proposes to update their context and their meanings, and therefore tries to develop a critical public space.
Alphabetville Friche la Belle de Mai 41 rue Jobin 13003 Marseille, [email protected]
www.alphabetville.org
Artistic direction: Colette Tron

Il progetto Giovanni Fontana. Epigenetic Poetry, nato dalla collaborazione tra Fondazione Bonotto, CIPM Centre International de Poésie Marseille e Alphabetville, con il supporto iniziale di Julien Blaine, fa parte del programma Parallèles du Sud di Manifesta 13 Marseille, e presenta una serie di nuove opere, di grande formato, sviluppate specificamente dall’artista per questo evento.
Un progetto, a cura di Patrizio Peterlini, che organizza lo spazio in una grande installazione sonora e visiva che grazie all’utilizzo di nuove tecnologie tende ad ampliare il concetto di intermedialità che la sostiene.
Grande importanza sarà data all’aspetto multimediale, attraverso postazioni video e audio con la possibilità di vedere e ascoltare una serie di contenuti in relazione alle opere esposte.
Giovanni Fontana è tra i maggiori protagonisti della Poesia Sonora a livello internazionale e le sue opere, che assemblano apparati elettronici per la proiezione di video e la diffusione di audio, rendono concreta la pluridimensionalità delle opere dell’artista che, oltre al loro valore sul piano visivo, hanno un rilievo sul piano testuale e si pongono altresì come vere e proprie partiture.
Giovanni Fontana, nel suo Testo come organo vivente, definisce tale unità in questi termini: “Il poema si organizza nello spazio sonoro. Ciò che è in nuce nella partitura si realizza in vibrazioni materiche che coinvolgono tutti i nostri sensi. La percezione non è soltanto uditiva, è anche ottica e aptica. Ma il testo poetico, come un organismo vivente, conserva la propria identità nella sfera delle trasformazioni. E si rigenera dall’interno con un processo autopoietico, sollecitato dalla voce e sostanzialmente ridefinito dalla rete delle relazioni con l’ambiente spazio-temporale. Il livello di organizzazione degli elementi interagenti è determinante ai fini della qualità dell’opera, intesa come vero e proprio sistema da leggere in chiave intermediale, nel senso che ciascuno degli elementi interagenti non ha senso se considerato in sé. Tutto è funzione del tutto. Nella dinamica delle trasformazioni (dalla staticità della pagina alla dimensione spazio-temporale del poema intermediale) il processo autopoietico garantisce l’identità nella diversità.”
Grazie alla collaborazione di CIPM e Alphabetville, due importanti enti di produzione e diffusione della poesia contemporanea di Marsiglia, e il suo inserimento nel contesto di Manifesta 13 Marseille, il progetto mira a collegare la scena storica della poesia sonora originale a quella contemporanea.
Il progetto è realizzato grazie al sostegno dell’Italian Council (7 Edizione 2019), programma di promozione di arte contemporanea italiana nel mondo della Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e per il Turismo.
Alphabetville, centro di produzione e diffusione specializzato nei nuovi linguaggi digitali, sosterrà e diffonderà il progetto tramite i suoi canali e la sua collaborazione con Radio Grenouille.
Durante i primi giorni di apertura, dall’11 al 13 settembre 2020, Giovanni Fontana realizzerà delle performances live nello spazio della mostra. L’accesso sarà limitato e su prenotazione.“Nella performance si tratta di organizzare e armonizzare il flusso sonoro insito nella struttura testuale attraverso l’uso della voce (strumento principe, generatore di significanza).
Nell'azione la voce sostiene il testo, ma può anche temporaneamente abbandonarlo, per dissolverlo nello spazio, per scomporlo in grumi di fonemi, in frammenti di corpo, in particulae volanti, in germi temporali, in pure vibrazioni capaci di ricoagularsi intorno a un concetto, a un’idea, a un gesto poetico, a una sorta di corpo glorioso, che si fa corpo di poesia.
Tutto ciò senza perdere mai di vista il progetto, senza mai perdere il controllo della situazione performante, che è essenzialmente una riscrittura in termini spazio-temporali, sonora e non solo, che fa i conti con i metri, le battute, le durate, le pause, le cesure.” (Giovanni Fontana, La Voce) 
Altri eventi paralleli quali workshop e performance live sono in fase di strutturazione e verranno comunicate in un secondo momento.
Per l’occasione verrà pubblicato un catalogo trilingue (FR, EN e IT) con testi di: Michaël Batalla, Julien Blaine, Giovanni Fontana, Barbara Meazzi, Patrizio Peterlini, Marianne Simon-Oikawa, Gilles Suzanne e Colette Tron.